Differing approaches to regional climatology: Climates of the Continents by W. G. Kendrew and Climatology and the World’s Climates by G. R. Rumney

Abstract

The two major regional climatology textbooks at the dawn of the quantitative revolution took very different approaches to regionalization. Kendrew’s The Climates of the Continents follows a grand tour of the continents approach, whereas Rumney’s Climatology and the World’s Climates uses major plant associations to define regions. Each approach has advantages and their impact is still visible today, although neither remains current. Today, physical geography and general climatology textbooks have reverted to a modified Köppen Classification System for organizing their regional climatology chapters. Regional climatology as a subject has been mostly displaced by synoptic or dynamic analysis.